Exposing Auschwitz

Rudolf Vrba's report saved 200,000 Hungarian Jews. It could have saved three times that number.

This month marks the 65th anniversary of a daring escape from Auschwitz, by a teenager who then revealed the truth about the death camp - only to be ignored by the Allied leadership.

In March 1944, the Germans occupied Hungary and began preparing to deport that country's Jews -- numbering approximately 750,0000 -- to Auschwitz. A 19-year-old prisoner named Rudolf Vrba, together with fellow-inmate Alfred Wetzler, decided to do something that almost nobody had ever done before: escape from Auschwitz. They were determined to alert the world about the doom that Hungarian Jews would soon face.

On April 7, Vrba and Wetzler slipped away from their slave labor battalion and hid in a hollowed-out woodpile near the edge of the camp. On the advice of Soviet prisoners of war, the fugitives sprinkled the area with tobacco and gasoline, which confused the German dogs that were used to search for them.

"Were they going to bomb the camp? Was this the end of Auschwitz?"

On their second day in the woodpile, Vrba and Wetzler heard Allied warplanes overhead. "They came closer and closer -- then bombs began to crunch not far away," Vrba later recalled in his searing memoir I Cannot Forgive. "Our pulses quickened. Were they going to bomb the camp? Was the secret out?... Was this the end of Auschwitz?"

The Allied planes were actually bombing German oil factories in and around the Auschwitz complex. The idea of bombing the death camp had not yet been proposed to the Allied leadership, and details such as the location of the gas chambers and crematoria were not yet known to the Allied war command. But that was about to change.

On April 10, in the dead of night, Vrba and Wetzler emerged from the woodpile and began an 11-day, 80-mile trek to Slovakia. There they met with Jewish leaders and dictated a 30-page report that came to be known as the "Auschwitz Protocols." It included details of the mass-murder process, maps pinpointing the gas chambers and crematoria and warnings of the impending slaughter of Hungary's Jews.

"One million Hungarian [Jews] are going to die," Vrba told them. "Auschwitz is ready for them. But if you tell them now, they will rebel. They will never go to the ovens."

A copy of the report was given to Rudolf Kastner, a Budapest Jewish leader. Instead of publicizing the information, Kastner negotiated a deal that involved bribing the Germans to permit a train with 1,684 of his relatives, friends and Hungarian Jewish leaders to leave the country. Kastner's action became the centerpiece of a controversial trial in Israel after the war.

Another copy of Vrba's Auschwitz Protocols was given to Rabbi Michoel Dov Weissmandl, a rescue activist in Bratislava, who then wrote the first known appeal for the use of Allied air power to disrupt the mass murder. Weissmandl's plea to the Allies to bomb the railroad lines between Hungary and Auschwitz reached the Roosevelt administration in June.

McCloy's position was based on the policy that no military resources should be allocated for "rescuing victims of enemy oppression."

Assistant secretary of war John McCloy responded that the request was "impracticable" because it would require "diversion of considerable air support essential to the success of our forces now engaged in decisive operations." He also claimed the War Department's position was based on "a study" of the issue. But no evidence of such a study has ever been found by researchers. In reality, McCloy's position was based on the War Department's standing policy that no military resources should be allocated for "rescuing victims of enemy oppression."

Vrba's report convinced the Jewish Agency leadership in Palestine to change its position on bombing. Agency leaders initially opposed bombing Auschwitz because they believed it was a labor camp, not a death camp. But after receiving the Auschwitz Protocols in June, agency officials lobbied British, American and Soviet officials to bomb the camp or the railways leading to it. Their requests were rebuffed.

Most important, a condensed version of the Auschwitz Protocols reached the US government's War Refugee Board in June. It helped galvanize the board to mobilize international pressure on Hungary to halt the deportations to Auschwitz. Although that effort came too late for the more than 400,000 Hungarian Jews who had been shipped to their doom, it did spare the 200,000-plus who were still alive in Budapest.

The full version of the Vrba report was actually held up in Switzerland for three months by US diplomats who regarded it as low priority. And when the report finally reached Washington in October, the Office of War Information opposed distributing it; OWI director Elmer Davis claimed the report was actually part of a Nazi conspiracy to "create contempt for the [Jewish] inmates" by showing that the Jews were not resisting their killers.

Fortunately, Davis and his cockamamie theories were too late to blunt the impact of the Auschwitz Protocols. The Hungarian deportations had been stopped, and Rudolf Vrba and Alfred Wetzler had played a significant role in bringing that about.

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About the Author

Dr. Rafael Medoff is director of The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies, and coauthor, with Prof. Sonja Schoepf Wentling, of the new book “Herbert Hoover and the Jews: The Origins of the ‘Jewish Vote’ and Bipartisan Support for Israel.”

The opinions expressed in the comment section are the personal views of the commenters. Comments are moderated, so please keep it civil.

Visitor Comments: 17

(17)
Peter Kubicek,
April 17, 2016 8:46 PM

Rudolf Vrba

As a Holocaust survivor originally from Slovakia, I am well acquainted with Rudolf Vrba's story. His original name wasn't Vrba, but he adopted it when he testified In Bratislava, Slovakia. The Slovak word Vrba actually translates as willow.

He also appeared in Claude Lanzman's eight-hour long film "Shoah."

(16)
Anonymous,
May 1, 2011 11:42 AM

Kastner

Very interesting article.
I am quoting from the article on Kastner from wikepedia:
Kastner's critics allege that he promised the SS not to warn Hungarian Jews in order not to jeopardize negotiations to save the Jews who escaped on the Kastner train. In 1960 an interview with Eichmann made by the Dutch Nazi journalist Willem Sassen in Argentina was published in Life Magazine. In the interview Eichmann said that Kastner "agreed to help keep the Jews from resisting deportation — and even keep order in the collection camps — if I would close my eyes and let a few hundred or a few thousand young Jews emigrate to Palestine. It was a good bargain." [26] Further, Rudolf Vrba wrote, "Kastner paid for those 1,684 lives with his silence."

(15)
N Kahana,
June 17, 2009 4:50 PM

The US hasn't learned

While this is definitely a terrible tragedy that everyone ignored the Auschwitz Protocols and the report given by Dr. Vrba. It is something that still happens today. What does the US do about victims of war in other countries these days? Pretty much the same, they ignore unfortunately that just isnt't their top priority.

(14)
Vivienne,
May 6, 2009 9:55 AM

To Sara Rosenberg - Read Perfidy

For a true account of Rudolph Kastner's complex persona, read Perfidy by Ben Hecht. Kastner did deliberately mislead the masses with regard to information about the true destination of the deportations. This was in keeping with a viewpoint espoused by some Zionists, that were intent on saving Zionist leaders while abandoning the masses to their fate. In fact, Kastner's testimony in court so embarrassed the Israeli government, that his assasination with their involvement was inevitable.
My great-grandparents perished at Auschwitz with their youngest child, never believing what would come at the end of the train rides. Perhaps with knowledge they would not have boarded those trains so passively. Perhaps more would have jumped the trains...perhaps.....

(13)
Anonymous,
April 23, 2009 11:40 PM

ALL TIME HORIFIC

IIS ALWAYS VERY INTRIGUING EVERYTHING ABOUT HOLOCAUST VICTIMSAND THIS BARBARIC HISTORY EPISODE.HUMANKIND MUST
LEARN FROM THIS UNFORTUNATE NEGLIGENCE.A STRATEGY MUST TAKE A SHAPE TO AVOID SUCH PITFALLS.

(12)
Sora Rosenberg,
April 23, 2009 7:43 PM

Rudolf Katzner

I highly recommend reading Kasztner’s Train by Ann Porter. It is a fascinating book. I think the section in the article relating to Kasztner needs clarification.
I pulled some info from wikipedia:
Although Kastner did not make the report public, he did pass it on to the Hungarian Foreign Ministry official who ran a resistance group who in turn passed it on to a Protestant missionary organization who translated the report into Hungarian and prepared six copies. A copy was sent to the Vatican and the report is known to have reached the British and U.S. governments by mid-June 1944.
Kastner's agreement over the train was part of a much larger rescue effort involving negotiations to save all Hungarian Jews by stopping the deportations. Also, he could not have saved Jews by warning them anyway. Ladislaus Löb argues, "with no access to the media and limited opportunities to travel, under constant observation by German and Hungarian secret police, he could hardly have raised the alarm in an effective way" and even if he had, the Jews, "surrounded by enemies, stripped of their rights and possessions, having neither the arms nor the experience", were unable to organize either resistance or mass escapes
According to some sources, many of the Jews who were saved were Kastner's relatives, rich Hungarian Jews who subsidized those on the train who couldn't pay, real personal friends of Kastner as well as "community and Zionist leaders." Actually the passengers included hundreds of children, many of them orphans, as well as hundreds of ordinary people such as students, workmen, teachers and nurse.

(11)
A.H.,
April 22, 2009 10:24 AM

Silence Purports Tacit Approval

May we not be silent when we see evil. Let us seek Torah and review similar events in the Megillahs. Let us pray for moral courage and seek the good of others. Let's not opt for self-serving ends. This is godliness,i.e.,Tsadaka. By HaShem's strength, may this courage be found in us.

(10)
Miroslav Vassilev,
April 22, 2009 1:17 AM

Extremely interesting piece of hart touching history

This is a hearth touching story. Being a descendant of Bulgarian (sefarad) jews I got very emotional reading this article.
This will make a brilliant film scenario (hope there are still directors and movie makers interested in revealing the truth about not so distant past).

(9)
Vivien Christian,
April 21, 2009 6:27 PM

I'm ashamed of my birth country

After the war, in England, I saw photo's of the 'discovery' of the death camps. I was told that these were 'Not known about during the war.' I discovered later that the camps had been known about but that 'the powers that be' had decided to do nothing about them!!! I have also discovered that my grandparents, both paternal and maternal, were of Jewish descent and brought up their children as 'British' because they didn't want them to suffer racial discrimination as their parents had. I am proud to be of Jewish descent and only wish that I could trace my 'Jewish roots'. May G-d's People never allow another holocaust to happen - either to themselves or to the people of any other nation.

(8)
Ester,
April 21, 2009 6:01 PM

Hooray! Finally some truth

Thank you for unburying the shameful behavior of Kastner & Co. There's a lot more to be told, as found in the books Perfidy by Ben Hecht and The Unheeded Cry by Rabbi Weissmandel.

(7)
Anonymous,
April 21, 2009 4:38 PM

My relatives were sent to Auschwitz

My grandmother's sister -a Hungarian Jew- was sent to Auschwitz along with her husband. She was at that time expecting their first baby. They weren't among the lucky ones.

(6)
Harvey Rogers,
April 21, 2009 3:17 PM

Oversught or On Purpose

I have read "Abandonment ot the Jews," "While Six Million Died" and "Heroes, Anti Heroes and villains" and cannot come to any other coclusion that what the "Allies" and others didn't do was for the most part purposeful. While most wouldn't have the nerve or the stomach to do what the Nazi's did, they liked the fact that Jews were being eliminated and did all they could to stop anything from interfering with the process.
The actual interference with projects and the refusal to join in, despite bein begged to do so, with efforts to save the Jews, le4aves no other reasonable explanation.

(5)
Anonymous,
April 21, 2009 2:23 PM

Heros wanted

Fascinating story! Thank G-d that so many stories of heroism are coming to light nowadays. Finally the world realizes that Jews were not sheep going quietly to be slaughtered. We have to maintain that sense of heroism and self-confidence today.

(4)
Kip Gonzales,
April 21, 2009 1:37 PM

Does anybody know if Dr. Rudolf Vrba is still alive?

As a kid of 15 years in 1968, I read the book by Rudolf Vrba, "I Cannot Forgive". I found out about the International Auschwitz Committee, and wrote to them asking for the address of Dr. Vrba. They sent it to me, and I wrote to him in Vancouver, Canada. His daughter answered the letter, and included a photo of them both. I´ve seen him in various documentary films, and was so impressed by his insights and moral stature. Does anybody know if he´s still living? I used to correspond with Simon Wiesenthal in those days as well, but he has passed away. I would like to write to Dr. Vrba one more time, although he most likely wouldn´t remember me. Imagine, a teenager who risks his life to save many thousands of people!

(3)
Menashe Kaltmann,
April 21, 2009 11:36 AM

R. Weissmandl of Blessed Memory

You Mention in this article R. Michoel Ber Weissmandl Zecher Tzaddik LeBrocha.
R. Weissmandl was an incredible personality of Blessed Memory. My Oppa (Grandfather)OBM from Bratislava (Pressburg)knew him --- My Dad (ad 120!) told me so.
Not only was R. Weissmandl Tz'l a great Torah scholar he and his 'working group' helped save the remnant of Slovakian Jewry between its first deportation in 1942 and the final deportation in 1944!
May his memory be a blessing! Zechus Yagen Aleinu!

(2)
roger,
April 21, 2009 11:08 AM

Vrba's book

Rudolf Vrba's book 'I escaped from Auschwitz' is essential reading and one of the most powerful and life affirming stories I have ever read. It is an extraordinary account of his survival against the odds.

(1)
Brian Shaer,
April 21, 2009 7:19 AM

Very informative article

In the 1960's I worked for a large Retail clothing group. One of the men working there was called Charlie. I was latter to find out that during the War he had been a Prisoner of War and he was in a POW camp next door to Auschwitz.. If you saw Charlie you would think he was a very unasuming quiet person. In truth he was a war Hero having broken INTO Auschwitz he smuggled food into the camp for the inmates and in his forced labour, servicing Steam Trains he put Grit into the Wheel berings to sabotage the trains which were used for transporting Troops and Amunition.It turnrd out that Charlie was Charles Coward and a film was made about his exploits called the "Password is Courage" There is a tree dedicated to Charle in Yad Vashem as a Rightous Gentile, Never has a surname been more inapropriate.

I've been striving to get more into spirituality. But it seems that every time I make some progress, I find myself slipping right back to where I started. I'm getting discouraged and feel like a failure. Can you help?

The Aish Rabbi Replies:

Spiritual slumps are a natural part of spiritual growth. There is a cycle that people go through when at times they feel closer to God and at times more distant. In the words of the Kabbalists, it is "two steps forward and one step back." So although you feel you are slipping, know that this is a natural process. The main thing is to look at your overall progress (over months or years) and be able to see how far you've come!

This is actually God's ingenious way of motivating us further. The sages compare this to teaching a baby how to walk. When the parent is holding on, the baby shrieks with delight and is under the illusion that he knows how to walk. Yet suddenly, when the parent lets go, the child panics, wobbles and may even fall.

At such times when we feel spiritually "down," that is often because God is letting go, giving us the great gift of independence. In some ways, these are the times when we can actually grow the most. For if we can move ourselves just a little bit forward, we truly acquire a level of sanctity that is ours forever.

Here is a practical tool to help pull you out of the doldrums. The Sefer HaChinuch speaks about a great principle in spiritual growth: "The external awakens the internal." This means that although we may not experience immediate feelings of closeness to God, eventually, by continuing to conduct ourselves in such a manner, this physical behavior will have an impact on our spiritual selves and will help us succeed. (A similar idea is discussed by psychologists who say: "Smile and you will feel happy.")

That is the power of Torah commandments. Even if we may not feel like giving charity or praying at this particular moment, by having a "mitzvah" obligation to do so, we are in a framework to become inspired. At that point we can infuse that act of charity or prayer with all the meaning and lift it can provide. But if we'd wait until being inspired, we might be waiting a very long time.

May the Almighty bless you with the clarity to see your progress, and may you do so with joy.

In 1940, a boatload 1,600 Jewish immigrants fleeing Hitler's ovens was denied entry into the port of Haifa; the British deported them to the island of Mauritius. At the time, the British had acceded to Arab demands and restricted Jewish immigration into Palestine. The urgent plight of European Jewry generated an "illegal" immigration movement, but the British were vigilant in denying entry. Some ships, such as the Struma, sunk and their hundreds of passengers killed.

If you seize too much, you are left with nothing. If you take less, you may retain it (Rosh Hashanah 4b).

Sometimes our appetites are insatiable; more accurately, we act as though they were insatiable. The Midrash states that a person may never be satisfied. "If he has one hundred, he wants two hundred. If he gets two hundred, he wants four hundred" (Koheles Rabbah 1:34). How often have we seen people whose insatiable desire for material wealth resulted in their losing everything, much like the gambler whose constant urge to win results in total loss.

People's bodies are finite, and their actual needs are limited. The endless pursuit for more wealth than they can use is nothing more than an elusive belief that they can live forever (Psalms 49:10).

The one part of us which is indeed infinite is our neshamah (soul), which, being of Divine origin, can crave and achieve infinity and eternity, and such craving is characteristic of spiritual growth.

How strange that we tend to give the body much more than it can possibly handle, and the neshamah so much less than it needs!